Talk:Arena (Star Trek: The Original Series)

The Metrons

Doesn't it seem more plausible for speculation that the Metrons could have been an early version of the Q rather than Trelane? Sure Trelane shares the mischief factor that Q has but the Metron shows more powers and curiousity in humans that the Q seem to have had.--Skeev 17:41, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

No, that's ridiculous. The Metrons scanned the Enterprise, something the more-or-less omniscient Q would never need to do.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.188.37.227 (talk) 19:04, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

And Trelane used a device to control his environment and was to clueless to know how out of date he was. That's a whole lot farther out of charachter of a Q than the Metrons.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Gyver4 (talk • contribs) 19:49, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

The idea of the Q never existed in the original series as the Metrons did, to compare both species is unfair under those circomstances, we have to keep an open mind about such things as there are a lot of thought put into the original Trek that have great potential, but completely lost in the Next-Gen and other sagas. Who knows, perhaps some bright spark would come along and make sense out of all this like using a needle & thread for every loose end Star Trek has ever made!—Preceding unsigned comment added by Skeev (talk • contribs) 19:43, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

• • • • Trelane could move a planet (!) (or at least a believable image of a planet). What powers do you think a young Q might have (vs. an adult Q)? Also -- we don't know very much about how the Q Continuum formed. See that word -- Continuum. There may be various energy beings included ... ranging from weak to strong. Once a species joins as an energy being, they may be "lifted up" and given the same powers and abilities as every other species in the Continuum. We don't know enough. But certainly there are races in the ST TOS that appear poised to become Q. Examples. Trelane and his parents. The race that found Charlie X (ie. the ones Charlie couldn't even touch). The Metrons -- who in their corner of space can arrange the duel with the Gorn. The Organians (who can stop violence in all parts of the Federation and the Klingon Empire at once). 216.144.161.51 (talk) 18:38, 11 April 2024 (UTC)Chesspride

Gorn

Gorns are fast, but not as fast as Captain Kirk. --E tac 06:26, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

remastered

Am i going insane or did they add effects to make mr gorn look like he's blinking?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.47.103.127 (talk) 09:24, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

• Though I have no knowledge of your mental state, I can assure you that, yes, they did add a blinking to the Gorn's eyes in at least one scene. Sir Rhosis 18:32, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

The Metrons LIED ( shock horror )

Is it worth adding to the article the revelation that the Metrons may have actually lied ?
This is not canon as it was not in the episode itself, but it was featured in the "official novelization", so may have been included in an early version of the script.
The TOS episodes were adapted into short stories by James Blish and published as a series of 12 books - http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Star_Trek_%28Blish%29
In the adaptation of "Arena" - in the collection "Star Trek 2" - the Metron reveals to Kirk that the initial intention had been to destroy *the winner* - as that species would obviously be the greater potential threat... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.25.121.245 (talk) 13:17, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

• FWIW, this scene is in Gene Coon's final script, and may have been shot but edited out of the episode. Sir Rhosis (talk) 17:11, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Family Guy parody

Under the Cultural References section, there should also be the Family Guy episode where Neil Goldman plays a tape of that episodes supposedly showing Shatner, his body double, the zipper on the Gorn's costume and a coffee cup. I can't remember the name of that episode off-hand but if it's something that should be included, I'll find the episode. 150.203.110.172 (talk) 16:31, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Fight parodied in TV spot for 2013 Star Trek game

Just added to Cultural References a mention of the ad spot for the upcoming Star Trek game, which features Shatner and the Gorn captain reprising their brawl after the latter's incompetence causes Shatner to lose a co-op session of the console game. References included in the article, may need cleanup.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/03/29/william-shatner-faces-off-against-the-gorn-in-this-hilarious-star-trek-the-video-game-trailer/ 118.138.44.224 (talk) 01:56, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Collider citation

@Starspotter: Have you tested the link to the Collider page you cite in this article? When I follow that link and search the page for "gorn" or "metron", it yields nothing. Also, regarding wording, you may want to take into account that the Metrons are only "aliens" in the perspective of other cultures they encounter. Eric ^talk 01:17, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Greetings Eric, thank you for checking this article. In this case the page does have content you are requesting, but due to the nature of that website, you must scroll down to access it. Here is a link, hopefully to the section [1]. Going forward, be on guard for an increasing number of bizarre coding on websites, that can a barrier to normal reading access. Cheers and happy editing to you. Starspotter (talk) 12:15, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

I scrolled down quite a way and did not see it. I also tried adding section links such as yours and "#the-arena" to the url, which did not work. Did you try following the link you put here? Eric ^talk 12:31, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Yes, I don't know what the problem is. The one that worked for me was http://collider.com/best-star-trek-episodes/#arena. Good luck! Starspotter (talk) 12:50, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Worked for me, took me right to Arena. StarHOG (Talk) 13:10, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Plot outline has major errors that need to be corrected...

The USS Enterprise arrives at the Cestus III Outpost by invitation of its commanding officer, but the crew find the outpost obliterated. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and a security force [Not completely true. They were asked to beam down with their tactical officers and security guards were part of the party] beam down to find one survivor (Tom Troupe) who says the base came under heavy bombardment from an unknown enemy. The landing party find themselves under fire from nearby, with two [No, one security guard is killed when Kirk asks him to go forward and see if he can see the enemy] of the security team killed in the initial volley. The Enterprise is also under attack from an unknown vessel, preventing the crew from beaming up the landing party. On the surface, Kirk finds a grenade launcher from the outpost's stores, and uses it to scatter the alien forces. The alien ship recovers its crew from the surface and begins to retreat. [I don't know if the word retreat is accurate. Sulu has attacked the Gorn ship with phasers and photon torpedos with no effect. The Gorn might be leaving to inform their military that the Federation's weaponry was ineffective against the Gorn shields.] The landing party is beamed back aboard the Enterprise before they give chase.

Both ships enter an unexplored sector of space, and shortly thereafter, lose all propulsion power. [Again, not accurate. They detect that the Gorn ship is slowing down for some reason. They don't know why, maybe the Gorn are turning to fight?. Then the Enterprise is seized by the Metron tractor beam from their planet.] The Enterprise is contacted by a species calling themselves the Metrons (voiced by Vic Perrin), who zealously guard their sector of space from intrusion. [Again, not accurate. They seize vessels because they are engaged in violence and the Metrons won't permit violence near their star system.] They announce that they will pit the respective captains against each other in "trial by combat", a one-to-one battle to the death, with the ship of the losing captain to be destroyed and the other ship free to leave. Captain Kirk is suddenly transported to the surface of a rocky, barren planet along with the captain of the other ship, who is of a reptilian species known as the Gorn (voiced by Ted Cassidy). The Metrons speak to Kirk, explaining that while neither captain has communication with his ship, each has been given a vocal recording device that will translate their words to the opposing captain as well as transmit them to their ships. [Again, not completely accurate. The Metrons explain the device is a translator and a recorder. They make no mention that this device communicates with the ships.] Kirk is told that the planet has numerous resources either captain can use to defeat the other. Aboard the Enterprise, the crew are allowed to watch Kirk's actions. [Again, not accurate. The Metrons only allow the Enterprise crew to view the contest when they feel that Kirk is losing and telling them they should prepare for their deaths.]

Kirk attempts to communicate with the Gorn, but receives no response. The Gorn tracks down Kirk, and Kirk realizes he is outmatched physically and relies on his agility to outrun the Gorn. [What about the part where Kirk drops a boulder on the Gorn, but then gets up. Only after this is Kirk caught in the trap which traps him under some rocks.] Kirk gets caught in a rope trap set by the Gorn that injures his leg and slows him down. The Gorn finally communicates with Kirk via the translation device and offers to put him out of his misery. Kirk accuses the Gorns of being butchers, but the alien defends their attack on Cestus III, stating the outpost had been built in what the Gorns considered to be their territory. They viewed the Federation's presence in this part of space as an intrusion and a possible prelude to full-scale invasion.

Trying to stay ahead of the Gorn, Kirk discovers numerous valuable minerals and resources on the planet [Again, not accurate. Kirk finally realizes that the items he's passed staying away from the Gorn can make a weapon since the Metron said that the materials were available to make a weapon in their initial communication with Kirk and the Gorn.], seemingly useless at this point. He is inspired upon finding stalks of bamboo and raw chemicals that can be mixed into a black powder formula. He constructs a makeshift weapon, using chunks of diamond as ammunition. Kirk lies in wait for the Gorn and fires on him, severely wounding him. As Kirk prepares to deal a death blow, he considers the Gorn's claims that the attack on Cestus III was only in self-defense, and allows him to live. Suddenly, the Gorn disappears, and a Metron (Carole Shelyne) appears to Kirk, congratulating him on not only winning the battle but showing the advanced trait of mercy for one's enemies. Kirk refuses to have the Metrons destroy the Gorn ship, leading the Metron to comment that "you are still half savage, but there is hope", and that the Federation should seek out the Metrons again in several thousand years time [Again, not accurate. It is the Metrons who will initiate contact, not the other way around.]. Suddenly Kirk finds himself aboard the Enterprise, his injuries healed, and the crew finds the ship on the other side of the galaxy, 500 parsecs from Metron space, the Gorn ship nowhere in range. [What about Kirk's speech that they should negotiate with the Gorn and talk instead of fight?] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aspenguy2 (talk • contribs) 19:14, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

@Aspenguy2: I say go for it and make the changes. From my memory of the show, what you state sounds correct. An additional note: Though I'm not familiar with our guidelines on TV episode plot descriptions, I would guess that some might say that the plot outline as it stands is a bit long in any case, and could use some condensing. Eric ^talk 19:24, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

OK, I will. The guideline is that the plot summary should be between 400-700 words. I've revised other plots such as "Total Recall" which took a substantial amount of time, negotiation and cooperation with interested parties. We finally got it right after a few weeks of work. It's fun to do since I like writing as a hobby.Aspenguy2 (talk) 19:43, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

Good of you to tackle it! Eric ^talk 19:57, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

500 parsecs

Compare:

The article says "the crew finds the ship on the other side of the galaxy, 500 parsecs from Metron space".

The transcript says "we're clear across the galaxy, five hundred parsecs from where we are I mean, were."

The Milky Way article says "its stellar disk approximately 100,000 ly (30 kpc) in diameter", that is, 30,000 parsecs. It has some conflicting figures, but that figure is the smallest.

So 500 parsecs from where they were is neither "clear across the galaxy" nor "the other side of the galaxy". 500 parsecs from Metron space (not from where they were, but from Metron space) isn't the other side of the galaxy unless Metron space includes most of the galaxy.

Oh well, it's just a TV show. Art LaPella (talk) 03:53, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Voice of Ted Cassidy ?

I was at a WonderCon ,in San Francisco, around 2008-2009, and one of the Gorn suit performers was there, I don’t recall which one, but he was surprised when I commented that I thought Ted Cassidy did the voice. He claimed that He, not Ted Cassidy, voiced the Gorn, and did a fairly convincing version of the voice. I know Ted Cassidy did a lot of voice work - uncredited - in 1960’s television, so the question is, is there any sort of source actually crediting him? 75.107.41.198 (talk) 23:10, 7 December 2022 (UTC)